Iran is the last large national economy to open its doors to world markets. The new opportunities that this presents will clearly benefit Iran's population, currently numbering 78 million, as well as many foreign companies. Experts from Roland Berger and the respected law firm CMS Hasche Sigle have produced a joint study examining Iran's potential, how the local market functions and how foreign companies can successfully manage the challenge of doing business in Iran.
To reach carbon-neutrality and zero local emissions, deployment of electric powertrains is required. Seeking alternatives to diesel buses is crucial for realising the emissions reduction agenda as they are hazardous to the environment: A EURO VI diesel bus emits approximately 120 kg of CO2 per 100 km. They cause local air and noise pollution as well as vibrations that are harmful to health and impact the quality of living in our cities. Whereas significant improvements have been reached with the introduction of the EURO VI standard, further emissions reduction potential is limited.
A transition phase, a sea change, a revolution – the recent developments in the automotive industry have been called many things. But what is clear is that something big is happening: our industry experts around the globe are seeing digitization cause a blurring of lines between traditional OEMs, suppliers and new players from the software and IT industry. Innovative technologies, services and business models are emerging and market positions are being redefined in many quarters.
Few topics on the automotive agenda dominate industry thinking like automated driving. The complex, highly automated or fully automated control of vehicles not only presents a technological challenge for traditional OEMs – the huge amounts of software required and the enormous quantities of data that need to be processed mean that growing numbers of non-industry players like IT companies are also involved and are putting OEMs under pressure. Whether or not automotive nations will be able to claim the top spot is dependent on two key indicators: firstly the industry, in other words the state of development of the vehicles produced by national automakers and the R&D support provided by universities or research institutes. The second factor is the market, i.e.
The rising scale of global population growth, especially in developing countries, goes hand in hand with an inexorable increase in global demand for agricultural products. Limited availability of new productive land, climate change and stricter regulations serve to ratchet up the pressure on efficiency and effectiveness in the agricultural sector even more.
The automotive industry is undergoing profound change. The rise of Uber will not just impact taxi players, but car rentals, car sharing, leasing players, OEMs, and suppliers. Thomas Wendt, Roland Berger Partner in the US, foresees that the coming industry disruption has major implications for incumbent players. 'Automotive 4.0' is the next evolutionary step-change for the industry. Advancements in automated driving, vehicle connectivity and shared mobility will change the face of personal mobility.
In MedTech there are new Industry 4.0 applications evolving. Digital data and increased connectivity are prerequisites for their success along the value chain.
Patients receiving diagnoses from automated tools will actively participate in treatment decisions and share personal data in return. Additive manufacturing technologies like bio printing have found first applications in the area of regenerative medicine. The creation of customized prosthetics, implants, and anatomical models are further examples of this development. This means progress for both patients and physicians – and the pharma industry, too.
Europe's energy systems are profoundly changing, with renewable energy sources capturing ever larger shares of power generation and energy systems increasingly decentralizing. In this transformation, innovative technologies for distributed generation of electricity and heat are important enablers. Stationary fuel cells can take Europe's energy transition one step further, converting both fossil and green fuels to electricity and heat at high efficiencies – up to 60% electrical efficiency and more than 90% combined electrical and thermal efficiency.
This is the first study to scrutinize the implications of the digital transformation with regard to the "industrial heart" of Germany and Europe. On the basis of an extensive analysis, we were for the first time able to measure the overall effect of digitization on the German and European economy. The findings reveal the dramatic consequences of the changes currently in progress: If Europe fails to turn the digital transformation to its own advantage, the potential losses for the EU-17 countries add up to 605 billion euros by 2025 – equivalent to the loss of well over 10 percent of the continent's industrial base.
The digitization of processes and products continues unabated as part of the fourth industrial revolution. Players from sectors as diverse as the automotive, consumer goods, chemicals and aerospace industry are increasingly reliant on digital processes to store and to share important data internally and with external suppliers. While this makes for faster and more efficient production processes, it does increase the risk of companies falling prey to online attacks. Data protection is therefore becoming an ever more complex, time consuming and costly business for companies. These are some of the aspects examined in the study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants: "Cyber-security. Managing the threat scenarios in manufacturing companies".
